Samsung heir awaits court decision on possible arrest

By AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, Jan 18 – The heir apparent to the Samsung business empire appeared at a South Korean court on Wednesday as a judge began deliberating whether to formally arrest him over his alleged role in a snowballing corruption scandal engulfing President Park Geun-Hye.

Lee Jae-Yong, 48, was tight-lipped as he arrived at the Seoul Central District Court and walked briskly past a mob of reporters into the building, television footage showed.

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“He will be in the courtroom for about two to three hours,” court spokesman Shin Jae-Hwan said.

Shin said the judge was unlikely to reach a decision until late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

Prosecutors said Monday they would seek an arrest warrant for Lee on suspicion of bribery, embezzlement and perjury in connection with the scandal, which has already seen President Park impeached.

It centres on Park’s secret confidante, Choi Soon-Sil, who is accused of using her ties with the president to coerce top local firms to “donate” nearly $70 million to dubious non-profit foundations which she used for her personal benefit.

Samsung is the single biggest contributor to the foundations and separately paid Choi millions of euros, allegedly to bankroll her daughter’s equestrian training in Germany.

In total, Samsung is allegedly implicated in payments of 43 billion won ($36.4 million).

Lee became the de facto leader of Samsung, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, after his father suffered a heart attack in 2014.

If the court agrees with the prosecutors’ request he will be the first South Korean senior executive to be arrested over the scandal.